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PostsToday I have a special guest post to share with you. Lauren Bailey wanted to share some insights with you on how to teach your children to save money by using coupons. I think she did a fantastic job of this. Thanks so much Lauren for your fabulous post.
Enjoy reading, and make sure to leave your comments on this post at the bottom of this page…
Cheers…Amanda…Excited Life Enthusiast! ;o)
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Small Savings Can Add Up – by Lauren Bailey
A penny saved is a penny earned, the old saying goes, but such small change can still seem utterly insignificant to young children whose minds are fixated on things that cost hundreds or thousands of pennies. However, small change and small savings can add up. There is no better place to see this phenomenon in action than in clipping and using coupons. Teach your children about the value of coupons, even the ones that only give you a paltry ten-cent discount, so that they can see for themselves how every penny can add up to make a difference.
Coupons can be found in a variety of places. Make it an adventure to hunt down coupons in the Sunday paper, mail circulars, and even online on coupon websites. When searching for coupons online, though, be sure to specify to your search engine of choice that you are looking for printable coupons. This way, you can print out those coupons and take the savings to the store, where your children see it utilized in person.
Once your children have collected sheets of coupons, look through them together for savings on things that they want. Have some scissors handy and allow them to cut out their desired coupons. However, it is recommended to remind the kids to not buy something just because there is a coupon for it. Instead, only clip the coupons for things that you were already planning to buy, such as a new toy, snack, or school supply.
Organize all of the coupons in whatever way will help you and your children keep track of them. You can either sort them by product category or in alphabetical order. This way, when you all head to the store, the kids can easily fish out the coupons they need at the register without having to rifle through every single coupon in their stash. In fact, to make using coupons easier, have your children get all of the coupons they are going to use ready before the cashier even begins ringing them up. This way, you will not have to hold up other customers by looking through your coupons.
To show each child just how much even small discounts, like 30 cents off, can add up, you can ask the cashier to ring up each child’s purchase separately so that they will have their own receipts that list their own items and savings. Typically, stores will indicate all coupon savings at the bottom of each receipt before the grand total, or under each item used with a coupon. Your children can then see for themselves how much their coupons saved them. After all, using just four 30-cent discount coupons in one transaction will already add up to over $1.00 in savings! Imagine how much more can be saved when more coupons are used.
To further emphasize how small savings can add up to big savings, consider having your children keep all of their receipts in a safe place for a month. Then, at the end of the month, you can use the receipts to add up all of their coupon savings together. Your children and you! may be pleasantly surprised by just how much they managed to save at the store with the simple act of clipping and using coupons.
By-line:
Lauren Bailey, a freelancer who blogs about online colleges, contributed this guest post. She can be reached via email at: blauren99 @gmail.com.
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